Embracing The Void
by Mareritt
Summary: Xena pays Ares an unexpected visit in his temple however she's not quite herself. She has to deal with an unusual problem which the God of War seems to be very eager to help her with.
1. Chapter 1

**A huge THANK YOU to Xentrya for being my Beta Reader :)**

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The thick, dark forest was gradually turning more and more silent as a certain raven-haired warrioress hesitantly walked along a barely noticeable path with no exact purpose or aim. Her inquisitive blue moons were curiously scrutinizing the area. It was as if all living things had refused to occupy this area, as if something mysterious... powerful... lurking in the gloomy shadows, had scared every form of life away from existence.

Xena was anything but afraid despite the fact that she could distinctly feel something in the air, some overwhelming presence which was becoming more and more intense with her every step. It was a bit strange that instead of looking for some warm, safe place for the night she was roaming the woods like some lunatic, but truth was that she couldn't resist the need to forge ahead... She didn't really know where she was heading or why but she felt as if she had no other choice but to obey those invisible hands that where pushing her forward.

In fact she didn't even try to defy them, she succumbed to their supernatural presence completely. Her tired legs were carrying her on without her even being aware of it.

After awhile, the scenery unfolding in front of her suddenly changed. A drastic change that was impossible not to notice... The Warrior Princess basically found herself standing face to face with a huge, impressive building... To be more precise, it wasn't **just **a building... After a more careful examination, Xena recognized in it a temple.

Utter curiosity in her eyes; she studied the architecture of the strange building rising before her. The decorations consisted mainly of carved marble envisaging brave warriors and legendary heroes, of skulls and swords and the massive black doors were covered in a rather intricate design of silver-like tree branches. Otherwise, the walls were dark and bare with no redundant ornamentation, definitely lacking color. It almost seemed as if someone had intentionally wanted the place to be repellent, ominous and generally practical rather than a delight to the eyes.

Above the door there was visible the symbol of the patron God of the temple. Xena looked up, her eyes widening as she recognized the unmistakable symbol of war... of the **God of War...** .

She gulped at the awareness. The mere combination of these words, echoing in her head, made her shiver with indescribable excitement, and a very pleasurable tingle ran down her spine. If just hours before she had been mindlessly walking throughout the forest, now she somehow knew that this place was the destination of her previous wandering. It was an unprecedented feeling that this was the right place for her to be in, the place where she belonged to...

After a few minutes of simply standing there and staring in mute amazement, a bit taken aback by all those irrational sensations that she couldn't get herself to understand, Xena came to conclusion that she wanted more... Everything that she felt was pretty intense already, but she knew that the main course was inside and she desperately wanted to taste it... She was being attracted to it like a moth to a flame. As a result, she hesitantly started to go up the wide, stony stairs.

Once she had reached the top, she pushed the doors open, and, despite the fact that she was aware that the temple was the shrine of probably one of the most dangerous Greek Gods, she somehow felt safe there.

Most likely, anyone who would decide to take their chances and enter such temple, would expect its interior to look strikingly similar to the external design, maybe something close to a vault or dungeon where the worst of the worst scums were giving their last filthy breath... On the contrary however, Xena was greeted by an uncommonly elegant and exotic décor. Colors were kept in dark tones, yes, the same as the outside, mainly black and dark-red but everything was linked in a surprisingly stylish manner.

The walls were no longer unsheathed, they were decorated with paintings of great war events from the past and here and there crimson, silky, long veils were adorning the hall. The room was dimly lit by a couple of torches placed on both sides, giving the place an almost mystical ambience.

The temple had clearly a military character but for the Warrior Princess, it also held a rich mixture of sensuality and charm... Or maybe it was just the impact of this quite arousing presence she had felt for some time now that made her perceive a shrine devoted to war as being sensual...?

She leisurely approached a huge throne at the other end of the room which looked pretty much like a skeleton in a dun cloth- a sculpture wearing such devilish grin as if it was some envoy of Hades himself who had just came to earth in order to take some innocent victims with him down to Tartarus.

The empty seat, which could be viewed as rather scary to any mere, timid peasant, appeared unusually inviting to Xena especially that she felt a bit tired after that long hike. She decided to take a sit for just a moment while she gathered some strength and decided what to do next.

With a silent exclamation, she jumped from the throne even quicker than she had sat there... Instead of feeling the smooth, velvety surface of the pillow she had been expecting, Xena sat on... someone... She turned around to see an obscenely handsome, dark-haired man wearing an incredibly sexy black outfit which was thoroughly emphasizing his perfectly muscular body, a man who was now chuckling lightly at her reaction.

Ares was in the middle of his routine duties when, right out of nowhere, he felt an unexpected presence in one of his temples. Normally he wouldn't even react to that, in the best case scenario, he would check on the temple later, when he would have some spare time, to see what offerings and gifts his worshipers had brought him this time.

Yet, this time things were different. The person who had invaded his temple was no one else but his absolutely stunning Chosen….His favorite warrior.

Of course, it's not that the Gods always react when their Chosens are in their temples, for it was rather common for a Chosen to be praying and delivering gifts and tributes to their patron God. The privileged one was a bit more special from the others, but still he or she was considered a mere mortal that should know their place.

However, the case of Warrior Princess was a bit out of the ordinary… A completely different story, really... Ever since she had decided to become some goody-goody her visits in his temple had been as rare as his own companionable visits to Zeus'. And considering that he was kinda' addicted to her, although he would never admit it aloud- he could barely stand admitting the thought to himself- he couldn't miss the opportunity to enjoy her presence.

Besides, he was unnaturally curious about what she was actually doing there. Ares knew Xena that much to know that it was as rare as a two legged Centaur for her to come to him for help no matter how messy situation she would find herself in and a sudden change of heart was also out of the question. He didn't have the slightest clue about what she was up to now and that intrigued him a lot.

Consequently, he decided to transport himself at his temple, and he did it right when she was about to take a sit on his throne….A very pleasant coincidence.

"Hello Xena..." he casually greeted her, fighting with himself to suppress a rather silly smile that was threatening to form on his lips at the sight of her. His dark-chocolate eyes, filled with absolute rapture-wandering up and down her luscious body- gave him away though. Even if a bunch of beautiful, horny, half-naked priestesses would dart into the room ready to please their Lord in every possible way, he most probably wouldn't have wasted his time on looking at them - not for one single moment, as he wanted to spend every second on admiring Xena's goddess-like features not wanting to miss the slightest flicker of hers.

To say that he found her fascinating would have been the underestimation of the year, especially now that Xena's baby blues were shining even more after the effort of her earlier night walk and her ebony hair, now in utter disarray was giving her an even sexier and wilder look. And as if it wasn't enough, the Chosen of War was currently wearing only her black, leather dress... so tight... so temptingly short... A lack of armor gave the God of course a much better view, and those feminine curves were breathtaking.

"... I thought you said coming to my temples made you sick…Now…not that I dislike your presence here, but I must admit, I'm quite intrigued…. What brings you here ?" he immediately said, getting straight to the point, very impatient to hear an answer.

Apart from the wide opened eyes, he didn't get any other response, so the God stood up and slowly approached his Princess. She was behaving quite strangely but on the other hand, with Xena one never knew what to expect, so he decided to play it safe: she did deserve that reputation of a sneaky vixen, after all, and she had proved it on various occasions.

What annoyed him the most was that he couldn't get rid of that weird feeling that something was not right, something in her eyes was telling him that.

"_Did the irritating blonde die or something and she is so devastated that she came to me out of all people for consolation and support?... Neah, that would be too good." _he bitterly thought to himself, trying to decipher whether it was all an act or something had really happened to her.

At the same time, the Warrior Princess was looking into his eyes as if she were under some spell that was impossible to break by herself. Ever so slowly, she involuntarily brought her face closer to his, one last brief glance at his now parted lips and she clung to him in a subtle at first and then a very passionate kiss. She gently put her palms on his wide, hard chest making his pulse quickening in a trice- a trick that was working in both directions... Xena could feel her blood literally boiling as if she had been put on fire.

"My my... I'm glad to see you too my dear." Ares said with a playful, boyish grin stretching on his visage immediately after they broke. "It looks like an animal magnetism has finally found its way on the surface and brought you right to me. Isn't that wonderful?"

Again he didn't get a reply, instead she just delicately bit his lower lip. The War God couldn't hold himself back any longer, for a moment he abandoned all his previous ideas about being careful, and beastly encircled her with his strong arms, so fiercely that one might have believed that he almost forgot she was still mortal and that her body- no matter how great a warrior she was- was in fact quite fragile.

Leaving all thoughts aside, he kissed her with such full force that when they parted she was definitely out of air. If he wouldn't have known her better he could almost say there was bliss visible in her eyes.

However when Ares noticed that she had no intention of pushing away from him, he got really suspicious. All this was completely out of her character and that only led him to think that his cunning Princess was up to something. Yet, at least for the following moments, he decided to play her game for a little while longer- it was too pleasurable to quit it straight away. Before he would smash her plan to pieces he wanted to at least get something from it for himself.

His left hand remained thus glued on her waist while the second wandered under her skirt. His lickerish lips now moved to her neck and lower...

Much to his surprise, she moved her hands on the back of his neck and pressed against him even more while letting out a few uncontrollable, stimulating moans and gasps.

"_What in Zeus' name is she doing? Does she want to divert my attention from something or what? I'm not running any big, important wars currently, no army to waste…., what does she want...? Or maybe she's just that desperate to feel a real man..." _Ares chuckled to himself.

Despite the fact that he was really enjoying himself, the God of War was not quite pleased with the idea of her being forced by some freaking circumstances to sleep with him, he would like her to want it as well... Consequently, he decided to stop it before he would lose whatever was left of his self-control for good... He took a deep breath to regain his composure.

"Look Sweetheart... don't get me wrong…I do appreciate what you're doing here, really, I do, but did you actually think I was going to give in your plan, whatever that is, just like that? I'm not some naive moron, you know….? And don't tell me you were just checking on your acting skills in the role of a horny bimbo..."

"What plan...?" she finally articulated, giving him an uncertain, questioning look.

"You tell me!" he exclaimed, visibly more irritated by her apparently low opinion of his level of intelligence. "And stop playing dumb, it doesn't suit you."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about..." she said slowly and quietly as if not wanting to enrage him even more "... but what I have been doing here was not because of some... plan, as you called it."

"Oh really? So maybe you would be that kind as to explain to me what it was then?" he retorted, cynicism and irritation distinct in his voice.

She opened her mouth as to say something but closed it back in the end not knowing how to explain what her motives were.

"Oh come on Xe, stop playing innocent and hurt! It's so not gonna' work, at least not with me. You would never come to me without a good enough reason, so you can as well drop this whole performance and start speaking. It's not like I'm gonna' let you go without spilling the beans anyway..." a note of threat reverberating on the last part.

He crossed his arms on the chest, observing her attentively while waiting for her response. She looked down, though, not able to stand his drilling gaze any longer.

Not pleased about her reaction at all, the God grabbed her tightly by the chin forcing her to look at him:

"I promise I'll give you all the chances to admire my new marble floor later; now answer me!" he uttered in a grave tone. The moment he saw her eyes nonetheless, he loosened his grip without actually letting go.

"_Are __those tears in her eyes...? No, that can't be... She wouldn't cry because of my quick-temperedness... The torch light must be playing tricks on me…..Or maybe…." _

A certain thought suddenly hit him... Ares took a better look at her... Assuming it wasn't some sick show of hers she looked quite... lost... maybe even a little disorientated...

"Did someone die or something?" he carefully asked.

"No..." she simply stated, but that wasn't very convincing and now when the God's anger diminished a little he could read in her eyes that she wasn't scheming anything against him, but something was clearly bothering her...

"Listen, if you have some problem just tell me instead of playing some harlot. I don't recall having implied that you could only get my help by having sex with me. We might have shared the bed in the past and in that obtuse mind of yours you might have viewed our relationship as some sort of service in exchange of my support in wars, but Xena…we both know it was more than that… Besides you're not a whore so don't start acting like one. I have enough whores around here, I sure don't need more…."Ares spitted out, hurt by her total distrust in him.

There was a brief moment of silence before Xena decided to answer. When she did though, her voice was hesitant and weak.

"In the past...? You mean... we have met before?"


	2. Chapter 2

"In the past...? You mean... we have met before? " Xena questioned taking Ares completely by surprise.

"Before...? What are you saying? Before what...?" the God of War didn't feel very comfortable not knowing what was going on, he liked to keep himself informed but apparently that wasn't one of such cases and moreover, this whole meeting appeared to be rather strange to his liking.

"Well, this... encounter here... is not our first...? From what you have just said it appears that we had some kind of... union...?"

Ares wasn't sure whether to start laughing that very moment, to wait just a few more seconds or to simply pretend he didn't even hear that... She surely must have been making fun out of him but in fact that wasn't very amusing... It was rather scary, actually.

"**Union?!** Xena, really, your sense of humor hasn't improved since the last time we've met, you should work over it you know...? It's **not** funny..."

"Forgive me, perhaps I just misunderstood something... Maybe it would be better for me to go now... with your permission of course... I know I shouldn't have come here in the first place and disturb you." she stated in a very obedient and polite tone.

Ares' jaw instantly dropped to the ground. If he was surprised before, now he was experiencing one of the biggest shocks in his entire life. **His** Xena apologizing and asking him for something, and the whole routine in such a smooth-tongued way? Either he had gone crazy and was imagining things or she was the one who was out of her mind...

He grabbed her by the arms so strongly that she couldn't suppress a low groan.

"You're not going anywhere! Not until you tell me what happened anyway, and don't try to shirk it, I'm losing my patience!"

"... Is there something that happened... ? Sorry but I really don't know what you mean..."

"**You**….. What happened to **you**?! Why are you acting like this? Where's your temper Xena? And if you're still going to keep repeating that there's nothing to talk about then why in Tartarus did you come here?" he asked, confusion and irritation reaching a dangerously high level; he was on the verge of losing his forbearance and he knew that never ended well. Of course he didn't want to hurt her but that damn woman was just asking for it.

"Well... I was just walking in the woods and suddenly came across this temple. I thought that I would come in for a moment, I guess... maybe out of curiosity..."

"Curiosity? Of what? Xena, you've been here before."

"Have I...?"

"Don't you remember?"

Xena only shook her head negatively. "Actually I don't remember anything..." she uttered, barely above a whisper. Now when she said it, she herself fully realized the ugly truth. She looked aside while trying to think of something that would be familiar to her, the least remembrance, some face, some place... She found nothing... Not one single memory, as if she had never existed before. Now she had no place to go either, 'cause she didn't know any, she certainly didn't trust anyone to ask for help as everyone would be a stranger to her. She didn't even know herself, her own personality, even** she** was a stranger to herself. The only thing that remained was a void. Complete emptiness that was now invading her mind.

The touch of his smooth, warm palm on her cheek pulled her out from the whirl of thoughts. She raised her head to meet a pair of dark, entrancing eyes now looking at her so intensively and at the same time so solicitously that they immediately made her abandon all her depressing thoughts about her current state. She couldn't explain this phenomenon but the presence of this man provided her some kind of strength, the feeling of belonging to someone. She felt as if she had found a part of her soul that was somehow filling the horrible hollowness inside her.

For a moment, she allowed herself to get lost in the God's magnetic gaze. He was no longer looking at her with suspicion or irritation but his eyes were holding traces of worry and astonishment. Those eyes... and such a handsome face, now so visibly tensed indicating his restlessness. And the lips... Gods, they tasted so good...

Xena unconsciously licked her dry lips which didn't go unnoticed by the Olympian. He would have zestfully joined her in this action but he knew that for now there was no time for this. He needed to focus, to get to know more about what he had just heard. **Amnesia**, huh?... Well, that would at least explain her odd behavior... Besides, she looked at him so differently... Her eyes were no longer glimmering with aversion or hatred directed towards him. There was expectancy and uncertainty in them but also some kind of heartiness and warmth. He couldn't remember when was the last time she bestowed him with such a glance. He loved the warrior in her, the ardor streaming from her aura during any fight was like an ecstasy to him, but still he longed to see that one of a kind look that not many people had the pleasure to enjoy, especially he during the last several years. He didn't blame her though, he was aware that he himself was the cause of it. And now, those beautiful, azure moons were gratifying him with that look, free of any negative emotions that he wished to see at least one more time, but... not at such cost...

"It really looks like you don't remember me much... But why didn't you just tell me that when I first asked you?" God of War sounded much more benevolently than before.

"About my memory problems?..." surprise written all over her face. "... With the greatest respect, but it didn't even cross my mind that the God of War could be interested in such things. And why should you... I mean, I'm just a mere mortal... I don't understand... Why...?" but she was interrupted; Ares had never seen her so confused. She was quite a mess right now- and who wouldn't have been in such situation- but it was a good thing that she had found her way to **his **temple and not somewhere else. Who knows what would have happened to his precious Chosen if someone else would have found her in such fragile state.

"Firstly, my Dear, **'mere'** is one of the last words that could be ever related to you, trust me. And secondly, are you sure there's nothing that you remember? No flashes? What about... Gabrielle?" Ares hesitantly asked as if afraid that once she heard the Bard's name, the disinclination towards him would wash over her and she would flee from there to her so called soulmate without a second thought. As much as it was an inconvenient situation for the Warrior Princess, Ares couldn't help enjoying just being there with her, alone, and moreover without any trace of hostility coming from her part but he assumed that if 'Gabrielle' wouldn't ring a bell then probably nothing would.

"Who?"

"Um... never mind." the God of War quickly responded, slightly relieved, despite the hopelessness of her situation. He concluded that there would be plenty of time to explain a few things to her later, besides, for now he didn't want to involve the irritating blonde in the story and have her hanging around... surely she would only hinder

And then, Ares was kinda' thrilled with the perspective of actually helping Xena somehow and taking care of her... maybe finally his efforts would be appreciated...

"Listen! Just tell me when do you think it happened and where were you then?" he thought that he had to start from some basic information then he would be looking for an answer in other sources. Maybe the knowledge of her whereabouts in that unfortunate moment would give him some hint.

"Well... I guess... my memory reaches only to today's evening... Everything before is a blur. I was in the woods... alone... there were only some weapons beside me but I left them there." Xena answered, wondering why would he even ask her that. Why would he be so interested in what had happened to her? Or maybe it was about those weapons? There was also the possibility that she actually had something to do with war. But that was highly unlikely in her opinion, she didn't think the God of War would want to deal with women when it came to his profession.

"Well, it didn't quite shed light on the matter..." Ares murmured and then added louder while putting his hands on her shoulders to make her focus on what he was going to say: "In that case, my Dear, I'll go now to talk to a few people, maybe they'll know something about your state and **you** are going to stay here. No one will be disturbing you and you'll be safe here. Do you need anything? Maybe you're hungry or want to relax… take a bath? "

Without waiting for a reply, the War God just waved his hand and a huge, oak table with any possible type of refection on it appeared in the center of the room along with matching chairs padded with black satin.

Xena was way too shocked to actually articulate one sound, not to mention the whole sentence. Just a few moments ago, this man was almost like an erupting volcano and now... he was so protective and considerate... Who was she that it could evoke in him such emotions...?

"Why...? Why do you care...?" Warrior Princess asked faintly.

"Let's just say that you're an important person Xena... important to me... someone really special... remarkable actually..." Ares answered with a mysterious smile.

He tenderly took her face into his palms just looking at her for a moment, drowning in the depths of her royal blue pools. Then he leaned slowly to gently brush her soft lips with his own, the touch so delicate as the dab of butterfly's wings but at the same time possessing enough power to make her legs go limp under its effect. After the kiss broke, he moved only a few inches away from her, so that they both could still feel the warmth radiating from each other's heated skin, tracing with his fingertips a fine line on her cheek down to her jaw to end up teasingly outlining the contour of her juicy lips. He tilted his head so that when he spoke again his lips were touching her earlobe:

"... And don't you worry about anything Princess, I'll help you, and whoever might be responsible for your memory loss, will pay for it..."

That being said, he stepped back and disappeared, leaving Xena behind, still trying to get out of that light daze caused by the god's nearness.

**O0o.o0O**

Rustling of leaves in the trees crowns, occasional hooting of an owl and crackling of the burning wood in a campfire were the only sounds disrupting the nocturnal silence around the blonde Bard. She didn't notice this unusual concert of the calm night though, as the fidgety train of thought was howling down any noise around. Constantly, new questions and worries were attacking her mind:

"_Where could Xena be? I only went to the nearby village to buy some food and she was supposed to wait for me here but when I came back she was already gone. And it's now what... five... six hours...? Even if she had decided to take a long walk as she sometimes does so, she surely would have come back already, it never lasts so long… besides she would have certainly taken her weapons with her... Why has she left them here? Has she been attacked and kidnapped... or... No, don't even go there... She's alive, she must be, it's Xena after all... But then the weapons..."_

Gabrielle tried to think of some reasonable explanation for Xena's absence but the longer she thought about it the more confused and anxious she was becoming.

Suddenly, a bright blue light dispersed the darkness around her for a moment, announcing an inevitable appearance of the God of War.

"_... And just when I thought it couldn't get worse..." _Gabrielle sighed resigned, already opening her mouth to tell him a few words about what she thought of his so undesirable visit. She didn't get the chance to articulate anything though, as Ares was the first to speak:

"No! Don't even start blabbering again!..." he raised his hands as if in self-defense to emphasize his words. "... I know all your lines by heart already! By the way... I thought that you claiming to be a bard and all, would sometimes come up with some new, original discourse when addressing me... but no... always the same lousy speech..." Ares said with a malicious grin hoping he managed to impair her ego a little. "Anyway, I'm here on business... kinda'..."

Gabrielle only cast him a look that was supposed to be scary, as a response to his nasty digression, but in Ares' opinion it could barely scare away this emaciated warrior wannabe that had the stomach to travel with them from time to time.

"Business? You can take your business straight to Tartarus! Besides Xena is not even here and even if she were, she would never listen to you." Gabrielle exclaimed, anger immediately taking over her.

"Gee, thanks. I would have never noticed she's not here..." the God of War acidly replied with utter incredulity in his eyes. Didn't she think that if he wanted to talk to Xena he would just appear where she was...? How could Xena put up with her for so long was just beyond his understanding... He shook his head and then continued: "No, Blondie. Actually, I'm here cause I have a few questions for **you** and I demand clear, exact answers."

"Oh yeah? Too bad, cause I don't give a hoot about your questions." Gabrielle barked while she turned her back on him ready to leave not wanting to have to stand his obnoxious presence even a second longer. As for a mortal, she went way too far with her behavior towards the God of War but she didn't even realize it as the anger totally clouded her reason.

Refusing to accept such reaction, Ares brutally clutched her by hair, pulling the Bard to him again, her back against his chest, while his other hand immediately grabbed her by the throat.

"Don't you play with me little girl..." he uttered into her ear on such a deathly tone that it sent shivers all over her body. "The only reason you're still alive is because Xena for some peculiar reason cares about you. But one day I may just lose my patience and then not even Xena would be able stop me."

Gabrielle in her naivety tried to use her last and only argument she could think of, it was useless though:

"You won't harm me. She would never forgive you and I'm sure she wouldn't let you get away with it." she took for granted her safety as long as she was Xena's friend.

Ares smirked at her statement. It looked like someone was uninformed here about the latest news. But actually it wasn't good, not good at all. He was kinda' hopping she would know something more about Xena's state.

"You stupid girl, don't be so sure of it... Right now I could kill you on the spot and she wouldn't deliver the slightest protest. As a matter of fact, she doesn't even know you exist." the War God forcefully pushed her away from him so that she landed on her knees but she managed to quickly pull herself together off of the ground.

"What do you mean? What did you do to her?" Gabrielle suspiciously inquired while clenching her fists and struggling for self-control.

"Hey! I'm not responsible for all the problems she meets on her way! No, this time it's not me."

"But what not you?"

"Xena lost her memory... Yeah, you heard me right. And stop gaping, you'll have time for it later. Now I want to know if anything happened today that could have caused it. Maybe she was in a fight with someone and could have been for example struck in the head or maybe you two were passing by some temple and something happened there or drank from the river devoted to some god? Did anything unusual happened? Besides, how is it possible that you don't even know about Xena's amnesia. I thought you two were travelling together or did I miss something?" Ares uttered in a single breath.

Gabrielle had various explanations for Xena's absence but certainly not this one. She didn't think Ares was lying to her though, what would be the point in it? If he would kidnap Xena he wouldn't bother to come to her to tell her some lie. No... he seemed to be worried although he was trying to hide it behind that irritating mask of arrogance. For now, she decided to choose a temporary ceasefire and answer his questions although she didn't have much to say about it.

"Well... I don't recall anything uncommon to have happened. Yes, we were fighting few bandits but after that Xena was still… Xena. And temples or anything connected to some god...? no, nothing of the sort. Sometime in the afternoon we parted because we needed to buy a few thing from the village and Xena decided she would wait for me in the forest. When I came back, there was no sign of her. Something must have happened while I was away! Ares do you know where she is now? You must take me to her!"

"Do I now? And how...?" Ares stopped in the mid-sentence when an agitated voice echoed in his head, calling for him. Obviously, something serious must have happened.

Considering that his futile tête-à-tête with the Bard was actually finished he picked up Xena's sword and Chakram from the ground and vanished from sight, leaving behind quite bewildered Gabrielle.


	3. Chapter 3

Ares squinted his eyes for a brief moment due to a drastic difference in lighting between the dark forest- where he had been standing just seconds before- and the brightly lit hall, in which he had just appeared. Unnaturally white walls and golden columns bestead in equal distances around the room weren't much of a help in his slight dazzle.

And though the place would certainly have made an impression on any mortal, the God of War could hardly find at least one single element in the whole space that he'd like- definitely too garish and flashy as for his taste. Maybe he wasn't much of an interior designer type, that was more like Aphrodite's hobby, but in this case, he would gladly take care of this room personally.

The large room seemed even more objectionable as it served as a conference hall where the major gods encountered monthly to give some reports, debate on different themes and many other crap that were deathly boring to the dynamic God of War.

Impatient as always, Ares quickly scanned the place. The other gods were already there, scattered in small groups, nervously murmuring probably about the reason of that sudden meeting. Confusion was clearly marked on their beautiful, immortal faces indicating that apparently none of them knew what was going on.

For Ares too, it appeared kind of strange but whatever it was, seemed to be something really serious... It was definitely too soon for a regular meeting. They have had unexpected meetings before- this was definitely not a first one- but back then, all the gods had been allowed to take part in them, even the most insignificant nature spirits if they had expressed such a wish. But this time, Zeus had only summoned the major Olympians and to the hall- furnished with twelve huge, white, marble thrones- where only they had a free entrance. The others could get in only with the permission of at least one of them. Moreover, usually trying to stay impassive, the King of the Gods couldn't hide the impatience, jitter, anger and indignation in his voice when he had called for them. This alone could convince anyone that the situation was critical.

Normally, the War God would have been thrilled that finally something big was going to happen, maybe there would be someone to kill, maybe some tremendous war to plan... Yet, this time he wanted the meeting to finish as soon as possible. He didn't quite care what the problem Zeus had as something entirely different was occupying his thoughts- a certain beauty... hopefully still waiting for him at the temple...

She got herself into one hell of a mess this time and he hated the fact that he didn't have any specific details about that... Neither who nor what was the cause of it, and he definitely had no idea on how to fix it...

Finally, when all the gods took their places on their thrones, Ares glanced in the Zeus' direction and froze for a second... it was then that he spotted her... a thirteenth deity standing next to the King of the Gods' throne... Blond hair, lightly falling down her back, a cerulean, long dress wrapped around her svelte figure and a young, pretty face were making her look quite inconspicuous but all the gods knew better. She was born long before any of the rest of the Olympians and she possessed incredible wisdom and knowledge. She knew more about anyone than they knew about themselves. Her dark eyes seemed to look right through one's soul and mind, revealing even the most deeply hidden things, and her persona emanated with dignity and commanded respect.

"_What is __**she**__ doing here? Could it be just coincidence...? Hardly... She's never appeared on any kind of meeting... at least not during my lifetime..." _Ares thought while strengthening the firm hold on the armrests due to the tension rising inside him at the anticipation of what he was going to hear. And this tensed look Zeus was casting him... Ares didn't like it one bit.

"Gods and Goddesses," Zeus started, " first I'd like to point out that nothing that will be said here must leave this room."

He stopped for a moment to look at all the gods staring at him, to make sure everyone acknowledged what he had said, then he continued, "One of our long ago set rules has been broken. It is important that we solve this problem in secret."

Then, he somewhat nervously glanced at the goddess beside him, "It concerns Mnemosyne here, that's why she'd like to tell you herself what exactly it was that happened."

With graceful, almost ethereal moves, she stepped forward. The silence that fell, before she spoke, was short but heavy, tensed and unpleasant. The always calm and peaceful goddess was now putting much effort in controlling her commotion.

Without any unnecessary beating around the bush, she came straight to the point; her velvety voice sounded clearly throughout the hall.

"Not long before you were all summoned here, I discovered that someone has broken into my temple... and that someone... emptied one of the bowls containing the water of memories..."

A few silent sighs of surprise and shock could be heard. Eleven of the present gods started looking at one another with suspicion, trying to read in the other's face the incontestable guilt.

They all immediately turned towards the Goddess of Memory, though, when she continued in strong and now a little impatient tone, "We know no one of you did it because I arrived there soon after the event took place so I still could feel the traces of someone's fading presence there. It was already too minimal to tell who it was, but enough to tell that it was someone with not such strong powers, definitely none of the Olympians, you are much more powerful."

"Who did it then?" Poseidon asked, not quite happy that someone had actually dared to break such an old and important rule. He was very attached to tradition and law, and he hated when it was violated in any way.

"Exactly, who did it? This is why you were called here. As the main gods of our kin, I want you to find the perpetrator and deliver him or her to me."

"With all due respect, but why exactly should **we** take care of it? I don't even think it is our problem. We have bigger fish to fry than one person, one worthless **mortal**, without memories, 'cause I assume it was a mortal's vessel..." Apollo cynically declared his unblushing opinion. He was way too self-centered and selfish to actually understand the gravity of what had happened and to even care about others' problems. Moreover, he definitely didn't like the idea of him wasting his precious time on chasing some god who had had the stupid idea to mess with Mnemosyne, besides, in his opinion, she could have protected her crocks better.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that! For millennia I've never asked anything of any of you, and never interfered in what you were doing to mortals despite the fact that countless sapped souls came to me for help because they couldn't deal with your so-called jokes, or better said with the torments that you were putting them through," Mnemosyne lost her temper for a moment but it took one deep breath to start speaking on a level tone again. Now she was addressing everyone, "I only wanted to do my job in peace, never intervening in yours, but one of the **gods **invaded and disrespected my domain so I do think** you **should do something about it. After all, it happened because of your inability to keep at least a bit of control over the youngsters."

"No need to worry, Mnemosyne..." Zeus answered sweetly, trying to appease the situation but he was instantly interrupted by the Goddess of Memory:

"And as to you, Zeus, I'm starting to have doubts about you being really a good material for a king. You should keep an order, and have the gods obey you and the rules but it looks like it's far from that. One of the gods disturbs my domain and now the other obnoxiously refuses to do my bidding when I ask for your help for the first time. If you can't keep them on a short leash then maybe a change of king would be in order..." the enraged Goddess announced, knowing exactly how to sting Zeus. His higher than Mount Olympus ego and pride hated to be mocked, especially in front of the others.

"We will take care of that," Zeus firmly assured, abandoning immediately his honeyed attitude after Mnemosyne's words. Her questioning his position as a king didn't set well with him a bit...

"Of course you will," she answered mysteriously with a suddenly soft smile but with a dangerous gleam in her eyes that no one would have ever suspected of her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the God of Sun asked.

"My dear Apollo, you do realize that the memories of all the gods essentially lay in **my **hands. Your vessels are strictly guarded and despite the fact that I'm the only one who has access to them, I've never even thought about messing with them, your memories and all the knowledge is too important to erase it. But now when someone dared to mess with me, I may just feel like doing the same to you if that certain **someone** will not be punished..." she stated on a strikingly cold note.

"You wouldn't dare..." Athena spoke, but uncertainty could be heard in her voice.

"Well, if you don't do as I ask, then we'll see..." Mnemosyne didn't want to be so mean but those overweening gods had apparently a great talent to discompose others, and if a little threat was what it took to make them do what she wanted, then why ever not?

Apparently it worked as no one said anything else after that.

"So... I guess I should leave you now. You have a plan to contrive."

"Wait! I have one more question," Athena stopped her, "Why can't you just percolate the minds of all the gods, check their memories, and then you would know who did it. Don't you think it would be much faster and easier?"

"Well, Goddess of Wisdom, of course it would be... if I were able to do that, but I'm not. When mortals come to my temple, I absorb all of their memories, feelings, details that they have long forgotten, everything they have experienced from their very first breath. But mortals live such a short period of time, so the amount of their memories is nothing big for me. However it's a totally different situation in case of the gods. You all have been around for millennia thus the knowledge you possess and all the memories are too vast for me to take in, most likely I wouldn't be able to handle such volume, it could destroy me."

All this time, Ares was sitting on tenterhooks. He was attentively listening to what they were saying but still, the answer to his most nagging question was not given... Who the vessel belonged to exactly...? Although his mind was screaming at him the reply, he didn't want to believe it. He desperately hoped that it was not the Warrior Princess', he wanted it to be someone else's, he **wished** it were someone else's.

If Xena had been for example drugged, or severely injured in the head, or under some god's spell, that could be somehow undone, he thought. But having her receptacle emptied in Mnemosyne's temple... that was serious... He had never heard of a case when it would have been refilled. He didn't even know if that was possible...

Still, he had to ask and know for sure. Heck, maybe it was just a coincidence after all- he tried to contradict his reason, the hope just didn't want to pull down.

"To whom does the vessel belong?" he finally asked, focusing the attention of the rest on himself; he could hardly recognize his voice coming from his tightened throat.

"Any further questions, turn to Zeus, he'll fill you in. I have a lot of things I need to take care of right now," Mnemosyne dispassionately said, and the next second she was gone.

Ares turned a questioning look to his Father; he could feel his blood madly pulsating in his temples. The answer came in a low note but to Ares it sounded like a thunder...

"Your Chosen's..."

The War God's veins were now on the verge of snapping. His Chosen, his best warrior, his woman, without a single memory...

Aphrodite cast Ares a shocked and pitying glance. The others simply observed him, curious to see his reaction.

In his turn, Zeus was warily studying his expression. He knew his Son's impetuous temperament, and he knew he was quite fond of this warrior woman. Maybe even too much... Thus, this new set of information could result in an uncontrollable outburst of the God of War, and Zeus was really not in the mood now to deal with it.

Yet, the expected reaction from Ares never came. Now he had an even more important question to ask:

"How it can be shifted back?"

The King of the Gods hesitated for a second as if considering the answer. No one, however, noticed this brief pause.

"It can't be."


End file.
